Once Upon A Fairy Tail
by Shadow Master
Summary: (BtVS/Fairy Tail/Marvel Comics/Bleach/AtLA) [YAHF so fair warning]. Ethan Rayne was always up for making a little mischief but this time around he decided to go one step further than he normally would. Unexpected twists cause a ripple in fate's plans and so four brave souls are cast across the multiversal expanse only to land in a world where magic rules.


"Once Upon a Fairy Tail" by Shadow Master

(BtVS/Fairy Tail/Marvel Comics/Bleach/AtLA)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever and do not intend for this to change at any point in the future. I write only because it's fun and because there are those that enjoy reading my work. Therefore I would appreciate it if you refrained from filing one or more lawsuits against me because I can promise you that any money you manage to get from me will not cover even half of your legal costs.

Note : Timeline-wise this occurs at this often used but only occasionally abused Halloween episode in the BtVS episode. When things progress to the Fairy Tail universe it will start a little over three years prior to the start of the Anime series.

Note 2: As always while I will be trying to stick to canon when and where I can but I will not let canon get in the way of telling the story I want to tell. Therefore if any of you reading this are completely against any deviation from canon no matter how slight then you'd best turn around right now and find another fanfic to read.

_Once Upon a Fairy Tail_

_**Approaching a Warehouse in Los Angeles, October 20**__**th**__**, Evening**_

_**Ethan Rayne's POV**_

_That blighter had best have the merchandise I paid for or else I'll hire as many Terakan assassins as necessary to see the sod dead!_ he thought with some bitterness as he drove the moving truck towards the warehouse where he was to meet his supplier.

If he chose to be honest with himself, it wasn't necessarily his supplier's fault he was in such a bad mood but rather what had happened to his original merchandise provider. It had been his original plan to 'acquire' a shipment of costumes from a normal supplier and use them for his little bit of fun in Sunnydale. He'd had it all planned out and even had an inside man who'd agreed to help him with the procurement in exchange for a bottle or three of Aphrodite's Lust. The potion wasn't really all that impressive when you got right down to it, it just pushed the drinker's lust through the roof, but fortunately the inside man hadn't cared one bit. Indeed it'd looked to be a mutually beneficial arrangement but then, just as he'd been about to pick up the goods, he turned a corner to find the man's garage surrounded by police.

Needless to say he drove right on by, all casual-like.

The thing that pissed him off, though, was the fact that this had been three days ago. He only had nine days to transport a complete consignment of costume store merchandise to Sunnydale, enchant them so that the spell would affect the wearers and then get everything set up on shelves. Considering the nature of the spell he would be casting, preparation time was a must that could not be shortened at all. It'd taken him almost every waking hour since then to find someone willing to supply him with what he needed for an affordable price. Unfortunately the supplier he was about to meet was a demon rather than a human, so her tastes when it came to payment were a little more… exotic in nature. Fortunately none of it was flashy enough to cause any sort of law enforcement to look in his direction, so he had no trouble procuring the payment.

Backing up to the loading docks of the warehouse, he turned off the engine before getting out of the truck and approaching the door to the right. There he knocked in the required pattern before waiting for someone to open it but, to his surprise, a rectangular opening appeared at roughly eye level, revealing two distinctly demonic eyes.

"Who shot first?" asked the demon from the other side of the door.

"Do we really have to do this?" he sighed, remembering another part of the business arrangement. "You can bloody well see it's me."

"Rules. Who shot first?" reiterated the demon without any sign that he'd budge.

It was moments like these that made him think that humans had just as much influence on demon culture as the latter had on the former.

"Fine. Han did, of course," he said with a bit of annoyance at the question.

"You sure about that?" asked the demon, sounding a bit skeptical.

"Of course I am! Anyone with a grain of intelligence could tell that in the original movie Han shot Greedo first! Now open up!" he exclaimed with genuine anger in his voice.

"Sure, sure! Just had to make sure," the demon said, opening the door to reveal a demon that looked like a snake with arms and legs attached. "You wouldn't believe how many so call 'fans' of the series get it wrong. It's plain as day if you watch the scene carefully enough."

Nodding but not really paying attention, he entered the warehouse and looked about the area for anything that could hold his interest. He was disappointed when the only thing he found that stood out was an arcane circle of power that he couldn't quite place to a specific volume or book he'd read. Still, he supposed that the reason for this was because his supplier wanted to keep a low profile, especially since she was in such a major city. Given that she was one of the few operators in the city that didn't have ties to Wolfram & Hart, that was another reason to stay under the radar.

The law firm, as a general rule, didn't let any arcane operators enter their territory without making the newcomers sign some sort of legal contract.

Another thing he noticed was that, aside from a few obviously empty wooden crates, there was nothing else in the entire place.

"Where is my merchandise?" he asked with a bit of annoyance at a possible second failure.

"The boss lady should be here any minute with it," the snake demon replied, walking over to the arcane circle. "Sent a message saying that some of the items on your list were a bit harder to acquire than she'd thought."

"Really?" he asked with genuine surprise.

"Yep. Fortunately no one really minds their wardrobe no matter where ya go," the snake demon replied before taking a cigarette out of his coat pocket. "Should be here any minute."

As if waiting for precisely that cue, arcs of crimson electricity began to leap up from the circle inscribed on the floor, sometimes converging at a single point above it, other times cascading outwards along any nearby surface. Then with a single massive bolt of crimson electricity shooting up from the circle, one that astonishingly didn't blow a hole through the roof, a flash of light turned the warehouse from empty to having a large stack of boxes arrayed around the arcane circle.

In the center of the circle though stood a woman that could be best be described as a man's most lustful dream and his most horrifying nightmare all rolled up in a sexy ladies business suit. For the most part her appearance was what of a woman in her mid-to-late twenties with ideal measurements all around, with flowing black hair that would have hairstylists clamoring for details. Her face was also pleasing enough but it was here that the demonic attributes began to peek through to the surface. The first was the fact that her teeth were definitely those of an organism that ate ONLY meat, given their sharpness, and the next was the fact that her eyes were pools of deepest purple. Her skin was pale blue as well but the most telling of all her features were the claws that sprouted from every finger as well as every toe. As she moved to face him, she did so with a predator's grace and, truthfully, she was considered something of an oddity amongst her kind, or so the gossip said.

Apparently they were a race of warriors and assassins. Since she was a businesswoman, she was considered something of an insult by her kind.

"Ah, Mr. Rayne! Perfect timing," the demonness said once she laid her eyes on him. "As you can see, I have collected the costumes you requested, though I am tempted to ask for more than the agreed upon payment given the difficulty in acquiring the last few."

"But that would be bad business, N'atrina," he pointed out politely but cautiously. "If word got around that you revised your deals near the end of the transaction, it could affect how your customer's see you."

At his words she stared at him and, with no pupils, it made for quite an unnerving look. For a moment he thought that he might have said one word too many.

"True enough," she said after shrugging with indifference. "I presume you brought the payment with you?"

"Of course. It's in the truck outside, all ready to be brought in," he said, gesturing to the large doors leading to the loading dock.

"No need. All the effort I put into acquiring your costumes has left me feeling quite famished," N'atrina said dismissively as she went to the indicated door. "I shouldn't be much more than twenty minutes. You may take that time to inspect the merchandise, though I am sure you will find nothing lacking."

"I have absolute faith in your appropriation capabilities, my dear," he stated truthfully as her reputation was indeed respectable in the sense that no one had serious complaints about the merchandise.

Watching her go though, he made a mental note to use quick purification spell on the interior of the truck before loading any of the boxes into it. Blood staining the cardboard boxes could make things unnecessarily complicated should a customer catch a glimpse.

_**Sunnydale, California**_

_**October 31**__**st**__**, Main Street, 3:20p.m, Xander's POV**_

"C'MON, XANDER!" Buffy yelled from almost a block ahead of him, "WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!"

"COMING!" he yelled back as he did the best he could to pick up the pace a bit more.

As he broke into what could be called a jog, he couldn't help but curse Principal Snyder for the man's immature need to make the Scooby gang miserable. It went beyond simply being a strict member of the school faculty and ventured into areas that legally could be called abusing the authority given to him by the school board. Not only had he 'volunteered' people into chaperoning the local elementary school students around for Halloween, but also instead of letting the Scoobies out early with the rest of the voluntold people, he'd delayed them until quarter after three. Then the little troll made it worse by saying that if they were even one minute late in getting to the school by 4pm, they would have detention for the next two months straight every day after school. The only consolation he had was the fact that thanks to an ill-timed comment by Cordy she got dragged into the line of fire as well and fell victim to the same circumstances.

"MOVE IT, DWEEB!" Queen C yelled from her place with the rest of the girls ahead of him. "I AM NOT GETTING DETENTION BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Needless to say she was letting everyone know of her displeasure without a single exception and so he had motivation enough to speed up into running if only to get away from her.

It was about four minutes later that they arrived at the only costume store close enough that they might stand a chance of getting to the school before the deadline. Cordy was quite a bit upset since it wasn't some high class place like Party Town but he was thankful because there was no way in hell that the Scoobies would be able to afford an outfit there. Looking up, he saw the sign of the place and learned that it was called "Ethan's Costume Shop" and, since it didn't ring any sort of bells, he could only presume it was a new place. The costumes in the display windows looked decent enough so at least the stuff would be a step up from those cheap costumes you'd get at any department store. True, he was in a bit of a pinch financially but he didn't have enough time to go with his original idea to go by the Army surplus place to get some fatigues before getting a prop gun from this place. He would have to splurge and get his entire outfit from this place and hope it didn't force him to dip into his Twinkie funds too much.

"I can't believe I have to go to such a third rate place!" Queen C griped as they entered the barely busy store.

"Yeah, well, you do so just deal with it!" snapped Buffy as she immediately began to look about the place for an acceptable costume for her.

The only problem was that most of what remained in the racks and on the shelves were bits and pieces rather than a whole costume and no one piece proved an easy match for another. Even his imaginative mind couldn't quite make the various pieces fit into an outfit that would look right. All it would take would be a single look by a stranger for them to see that what he wore was a hodgepodge of items. He could tell that the others were thinking the same thing and were becoming discouraged at their chances of finding something they liked in the time that they had.

"Let's not give up just yet, guys," he said trying to cheer them up. "Let's split up first and see what we can find. There have to be four good costumes in this place somewhere."

"Oh and how would you know, dweeb?!" snapped Cordy as she looked at him angrily.

"Because my luck isn't bad enough for there to be nothing left for us," he said, as though it was perfectly logical.

Cordy, Buffy and Willow just rolled their eyes at this but, nonetheless, his plan was followed just the same with their quartet splitting up to explore every area of the store for something worthwhile. He wanted to be thorough in his search but that wasn't possible with the clock ticking down, so instead he chose to find a store employee. Surely they would know whether or not there was a complete costume somewhere either out in the main area or on a shelf out back.

Looking about, he instantly found a man who seemed to be tending to the few remaining customers in the store but it seemed a bit odd since he couldn't find any other employees. While it wasn't unheard of for a single person to be running a store this size, it would definitely be easier if there were two or three more people. Shrugging, he decided it was none of his business if someone decided they wanted to work themselves harder than they had to.

"Excuse me?"

"Yes? How can I help young man?" asked the obviously British man, turning to face him.

"I was wondering if you have any complete costumes left?" he asked sincerely as he looked the man in the eye. "My friends and I are in a bit of a pinch and don't have time to try to make up a costume on our own. Do you have anything in back? As long as they fit and aren't too embarrassing, we'll take them."

"And your friends would be?" asked the man, sounding like he genuinely would give it his best.

"Buffy, Willow and Cordy," he replied pointing out each lady in turn.

"Hmmm… that's a bit of a tall order, young man," the Brit mused as he seemed to consider what he could recall of his inventory. "Most of my complete costumes have already been rented out for the night. However… I believe there are some costumes in the back that might suit the needs of you and your friends. Give me a few minutes, if you please."

With that the older man left the main store area to venture to the back room cordoned off only by a curtain. He was a bit tempted to peek through the narrow opening but decided that might offend the Brit, so instead he perused the items around the area he was until the dark haired fellow came back. There were a couple of things that looked pretty good but still nothing that he could put into a coherent costume that would pass inspection when the rest of the school saw it.

A few minutes later the store employee, the actual manager if his hunch was correct, emerged from the back carrying a load of boxes that were almost too large to be carried without significant balancing skills. Deciding to help the guy out, he walked over and took the top three boxes off the pile and carried them over to the main counter that he presumed was where the guy wanted to go.

"Thank you, my boy," the manager said as he set the remaining boxes down next to the load he'd set down. "I fear I may have overestimated the amount I could safely carry. I have two more boxes to get from the back and that should be all of the necessary items. If you could gather your lady friends over here, I can give them their costumes at the same time I provide you with your own."

"Sure. Back in a bit," he said as he started heading over to where the girls were still looking for costumes.

From the looks on their faces, he could tell they hadn't found anything with even the slightest chance of passing their decent but time-limited standards of dress. He could see Buffy looking at some sort of wooden skeleton he presumed had been used to display some sort of dress but her gaze didn't linger on it for very long. Cordy was looking through what looked to be a variety of multi-colored fake cat ears and, for some reason, his mind pictured her as one of those cat maids with the tail poking out from beneath the dress. He instantly banished the image since he knew that women were damn near telepathic and could sniff out a perverted thought in seconds and he had no desire to be smacked once by each young woman for an image inspired by his healthy male libido.

"Hey guys, I talked with the guy running this place and he says he has some complete costumes he can give us," he said once he was close enough that he didn't need to yell.

"What are they?" Willow asked, sounding hopeful that her blemish free school record would remain free from detention notes.

"Dunno, but as long as they fit that's the important thing," he said as he waited to see what their reactions would be.

"I guess so," Buffy said less than enthusiastically probably because she didn't know the details of her costume.

"You guess so!?" exclaimed Cordy at the blonde's lack of concern. "For all we know they're hobo costumes!"

"I somehow doubt that this guy's cheap enough to buy some clothes off hobos," he said even though in the back of his mind he acknowledged that some people COULD be that cheap.

Before Queen C could say more, the store manager emerged from the back room with two more boxes and so he gestured for the trio of teens to follow him to the main counter. Hearing more than seeing them fall in behind him, he moved over to where the last of the boxes was being set down.

"Ah! I see that you've gathered your lady friends," the manager said after turning towards them. "Now I've managed to pick out four costumes as you requested that are for the necessary genders and I believe should fit all of you, more or less. Might be an inch or two loose or tight but there shouldn't be any real trouble. Now this one is for you, young man, some sort of samurai lord outfit. It comes with a katana plus a little surprise, if you'll allow me to demonstrate."

"Sure," he said, a bit interested in what the surprise was.

Watching as the man removed something from the long box on the counter, it didn't look like much at first put when the man took the top off the item to expose what was hidden within it. He had to admit it was pretty interesting, reminded him of some of those classic samurai films he'd seen, and so he smiled at the thought of it being part of his costume.

"And these three boxes contain the costumes for you lovely ladies," The manager handed specific boxes to each of them, "I'm afraid without a measuring tape I was forced to guess your sizes but they should be fairly accurate. My mother was a professional seamstress and had a good eye for guessing the measurements of her customer's. I might not quite be up to her level but I'd wager my estimates will be sufficient for your needs."

The girls looked a little uncertain about the boxes they had in their hands but they didn't hand them back, so he presumed that they'd wear them no problem.

With the costumes in hand they all paid for them at the cash register and left the store.

"SHIT! We gotta get to the school!" he exclaimed as he spotted the time on a clock across the street. "We'll have to put them on in the bathroom or we'll be late!"

With exclamations of surprise the girls tore off down the street, with him taking up the rear the same as before, running as fast as he could without dropping his costume in the process. He sure hoped that they'd make it in time because he sure as hell didn't want to be stuck in detention since that'd only make Tony and his mom worse when he finally got home.

They pretty much relied on him to get supper ready.

_**Sunnydale High School, Girl's Bathroom, 3:50pm, Willow's POV**_

"Hurry up, Willow!" Buffy said from outside of the bathroom stall she was in. "We've got less than ten minutes to get to the student lounge before we're officially late!"

"I'm hurrying!" she declared with anxiety as she hopped on one foot as she tried to get her left leg into the pants she half had on.

The difficulty wasn't that the costume was all that hard to put on but rather because she was so afraid of being late that she was making mistakes, forcing her to correct each of them, thus taking up more time. As she finally got her left leg where it was supposed to go, she pulled the pants up only to find that, aside from a square-like section in the front and back, the sides of her legs right down to about mid-thigh were exposed. Worried that perhaps she'd gotten a defective or damaged outfit, she tried to see signs of obvious tearing or damage but found none. Holding up her pants with one hand, she reached into the box to look at the sketch that had come with the instructions for how to put the outfit on. At first the image confirmed that something was wrong but upon closer inspection she saw that her outfit was in fact perfectly fine and that the plain black belt that was in the box was supposed to attach itself to the front and back of the pants in order to keep it up.

_What kind of costume is this!?_ She thought as she picked up the belt and quickly tried to put it on exactly as the instructions specified.

Looking at the next part of the outfit, she definitely figured that the guy at the store had gotten one of a woman's most important measurements wrong. In fact he'd gotten it a good two to three inches off from what she could tell and, as a result, she was sure her bra would show if she wore it. For a moment she considered just chucking her bra but then the image of something happening to show everyone that she'd done that appeared in her mind. This caused her entire body to go redder than a tomato she was sure of it!

"WILLOW!" Buffy yelled, sounding like she'd yank the door open and put the costume on for her unless she hurried.

On a whim that was more feeling than thought, she yanked her bra off and quickly put the white sports bra like thing on her before putting on the rest as quickly as she could without making it look like she'd put it on in a rush. The last piece to be put on was the wig but, once she was sure it was sitting right on her head, she exited the stall to find the others likewise evaluating their dressing job before nodding with contentment. Looking at the two of them, she found herself wishing that she'd gotten Buffy's outfit rather than the one she was wearing, given that it covered considerably more. It sort of looked like it'd come out of one of Xander's kung fu movies, about fifteenth century Japan, and aside from the contacts that the Slayer had put into her eyes, it didn't really stand out much. Cordy, on the other hand, had an outfit that would have every comic book nerd in school drooling over her and that image cheered her up quite nicely.

"No time to put on this body paint, though!" Queen C grumbled, pointing out a vital problem with incorrect skin tone.

Then again her own skin was the wrong color as well but, just like the socialite said, there wasn't enough time to put any body paint on.

"We've got five minutes to make it to the lounge. Let's GO!" Buffy declared before heading for the door.

"Um… Buffy? I don't think those shoes go with the costume." she said, pointing out that the shoes she was wearing were decidedly more modern than her costume.

"There weren't any shoes IN the box and I'm not going around barefoot," Buffy said as they left the bathroom.

As she turned in the direction of the student lounge, she saw that Xander was ready to do the same thing and looked quite good in his black and white samurai outfit.

"Well, let's get going ladies. The clock's a ticking and we have four minutes to make it to the lounge."

By the time they made it to where all the other 'volunteer chaperones' had gathered, the elementary school students they'd be escorting around town. She almost immediately felt uncomfortable as eyes began to look at her and the costume she was wearing. The only comfort she was able to take was the fact that her costume covered half of her face, making it difficult for anyone to be able to tell that it was her they were seeing. Only those who knew her would likely see the truth and, considering that she was pretty much invisible to most of the student body, she didn't have much to worry about. Only the students in the advanced classes like her or those few that she tutored would likely be able to see past the costume.

"Well, Summers, I guess even you can be on time for once in your life," Snyder said with contempt dripping from his mouth. "Now go to the table, find your group and try not to teach them any of your delinquent ways."

As she watched him walk away to torment some other student, she had to wonder what could've happened to the man to make him hate students to this degree. Based on the things she'd learned second hand through her folks, she figured it was probably the continuation of a cycle of abuse and foul behavior that was pretty common in Snyder's family. According to her mother, the only way to stop it was to get the person to realize how wrong it was and then gradually work them away from the reflexive desire to hate students. That didn't meant that she would be the one to try because, as much as she respected teachers and authority figures, Snyder was the one exception so she wouldn't do a thing to help him.

She'd probably have a bag of popcorn to snack on when the day came for him to get his just deserts.

It didn't take her long to find her name on the list and then go to her group of kids. Looking at them, she was hit with a bit of nostalgia since many of them wore costumes similar to the ones that she, Xander and Jesse wore when they were that young. It was proof in her mind that some costumes were classics that would never get old and would continue to be worn until Halloween ceased to be celebrated.

"What are you supposed to be, lady?" asked a little girl in a fairy princess costume.

_A good question,_ she thought since she'd never quite got a description of what she was supposed to be. _What do I say?_

In a burst of inspiration she recalled watching some foreign cartoon with Xander a week ago and it seemed as good a response to give as anything else.

"I'm a hero from a Japanese cartoon." She replied figuring that would be enough to satisfy them.

"Which one?" asked a boy in a cowboy costume.

"Um… it isn't a very popular one but I like it," she replied as she tried to come up with a name for the show. "Super…Samurai Senshi."

Yeah it was a weak name but it sounded close enough to what a show from Japan would be called that she doubted this kid would suspect the truth.

"Never heard of it," said the cowboy sounding like he suspected that she bulldoodooing him.

"Well, like I said, it's not the most popular show but I like it. Anyway, let's focus on the important part of all this: getting you guys as much candy as possible!"

She mentally sighed with relief when the children cheered at that and stopped asking questions because she wasn't sure how much longer she would've been able to come up with answers out of nowhere.

Slipping into the mode she often did when tutoring someone, she began to educate them on the finer points of getting the most candy possible in the two hours they had. While it had been all fun and games the first few times they'd done it, Jesse and Xander had taken it a step further and spent hours coming up with dozens of tricks or schemes that would get them more candy then the normal method allowed. Some could be considered naughty but she'd stopped complaining when their methods netted her enough Reese Peanut Butter Cups to last her until Christmas. While she'd never be as fanatical towards them as Xander was Twinkies, there were a perfectly valid bribe item for her and had left her writing many a report for the student who could meet her sweet tooth's price.

Not that she told Xander anything about this, of course, otherwise she'd be doing his homework as well and it just wouldn't do for him not to learn firsthand. Not if he wanted a decent paying job, anyway.

Of course his idea of a decent job and her definition of a good job probably differed since he'd probably be satisfied working at the theatre if it allowed him to see movies for free.

_**A Higher Plane of Reality, The Chambers of The Powers That Be, 5:40pm**_

To those that could perceive the truth of realm, it looked to be just another day for those that directed the battle against the darkness that seeped like a sickness into every corner of the mortal realm. To some they were benevolent beings that wisely directed the forces of light in the fight against the darkness and followed plans so complex that no mortal could ever hope to understand them. To others they were despicable beings almost as bad as the enemy they fought and were so fanatical about their plans being followed that they'd kill any mortal that threatened them.

The truth of the matter was a little different from what some might think.

Most mortals believed that the Powers That Be were a group of beings like angels that were only one or two levels below the Almighty himself. However the truth was that it was a group of deities once worshipped in the past that chose to give up their past identities as gods or goddesses in order to join forces so that they could maximize the progress they made against the darkness. Of course some said that they only formed this new group when the number of followers at their respective temples dropped below a satisfactory level. Those that said that though quickly found themselves assigned to the most remote jobs that existed in the entire division.

The current leader of the group was none other than the All-Father of the Norse pantheon, Odin, who was currently using his wisdom to try and discern how best to use two Slayers rather than the original one they'd had for centuries. He was still in a bit of a foul mood about what the Harris kid had managed to do, since it meant that they had to change all of their plans.

Seeing as how there were currently twelve hundred and sixty-five plans the involved the Slayer to one degree or another and that those plans were often half a million pages long as mortals reckon, things it meant a LOT of writing for him and his brethren.

It was due to his mental mutterings of discontent that he was so thrown when the higher plane equivalent of flashing red lights and warning sirens altered the atmosphere of the room. With less than a thought every member of the Powers That Be sought the reason for such an urgent warning and were startled with what they found. Out of nowhere, three great powers had emerged on the Sunnydale Hellmouth and were wreaking havoc throughout the small town. So great was the amount of power being used that even the Hellmouth itself was beginning to fluctuate chaotically under the influence of these new powers. That by itself caused them, all thirteen of them, to set aside whatever they were doing and give the situation their undivided attention because, if the situation continued to escalate, there was a chance that the Hellmouth could open. That would ruin ALL of their plans.

At once they worked as a team to ascertain the identities of the beings that were producing such enormous levels of power and, while it took some time to cut through the interference, they soon acquired the information they sought. As one they were both shocked and exasperated because the people responsible for the disruption of what should have been a relatively quiet Halloween night were none other than Slayer Summers and her associates. Since the day that they had Chosen the girl to be the next Slayer, the young mortal woman had repeatedly defied the path one of her Calling was destined to take. There had, of course, been others who'd tried to do the same but they usually either died within their first year or eventually came to accept their fates as being inevitable. Summers, on the other hand, had been a Slayer for two years before she'd met her destined end, or rather should've reached her destined end if not for the interference of that blasted Harris boy. The Watcher and the vampire with a soul, Angel, had both read the prophecy they'd whispered into the ear of the seer centuries ago, accepting its words as truth without hesitation. The opinions of two learned men should've been enough to dissuade the boy from trying anything but still the teenager had tried to defy prophecy but they hadn't been too worried in the beginning.

After all, what could one boy so new to the truth possibly do to derail their plans?

By the time they had noticed that the boy had managed to persuade the brooding Angelus to lead him to the Master of Aurelius' lair, it had been too late for them to do anything but watch as their prophecy was cast aside. They had been able to avoid any humiliation by saying that their prophecy never said Summers would STAY dead but those with the skill to see beyond the surface had seen the truth.

This was enough to make them all work to tighten their hold over their Chosen warriors and manipulate certain variables in order to ensure that such an even didn't repeat itself. It had been, in fact, them who had directed William the Bloody and his mad seer lover to go to the Hellmouth searching for a cure to the latter's condition. It had been their intention to humble Summers by having her face off against a vampire that had killed two of her predecessors and, if William the Bloody followed his usual pattern, then perhaps Harris would wind up dead as well. As the weeks passed, from a mortal's perspective, nothing significant happened but they hadn't been worried overly much.

Now, though, they were beginning to think that they should've paid more attention.

With the focal points of the masses of power identified they tried to find out how they received such a tsunami of power without there being any omens or warnings that would have been detected. This, it turned out, was easy because all over the town the aura of the one responsible for the change was plain to be seen and, as one, twelve of the thirteen turned to their remaining member angrily.

"What hast thou done this time, Janus?" Odin asked, sounding quite put out.

"I assure you, Lord Odin, that while I was aware that one of my acolytes was going to borrow a portion of my power for a spell tonight, it should not have had such a grand effect." Janus sounded equal parts pleased by the unexpected turn of events and concerned about the consequences. "If you will allow me a moment, I will use my powers to discern what has made this casting of the spell different from previous times."

A stern nod from Odin was all the response provided.

A magical window was opened mid-air and images of Ethan Rayne's activities went by, going further into the past as time went by. It wasn't until they reached eleven days prior that the cause of the deviation became known, causing all to growl at the demonness and how her merchandise was acquired.

"This is indeed an event of concern, Lord Odin," Janus said after taking a moment to figure out how clothes from other dimensions would affect Rayne's spell. "Normally the spell only empowers copies or replicas of clothes and the amount of power one receives is limited, as well as temporary. However by getting clothes from the genuine articles, what the wearer gains from the spell will be permanent. For those that dress as police officers or spies, it will merely be those skills but if the one they dress as possesses a power or a special ability, those will be retained as well."

"Do you mean that the person the wearer was before will be destroyed?" Odin asked with some concern.

"No, they may gain a copy of the costume personae's memories but, depending on the amount of memories, the information gained will be difficult to access. The original person will remain in control and intact," he replied before a look of increased unease crossed his face.

Much to the surprise of his fellow Powers, the Roman god changed the information on the screen to a series of snapshots, presumably of those touched by the spell. These pictures went by at a speed no mortal being would be able to follow but for a god or goddess it was all too easy to perceive every snapshot. It was when the last one was displayed that Janus breathed a sigh of relief and, naturally, this caused the others to look at him inquiringly.

"I was concerned that too many of the mortals had chosen costumes representing powerful beings and that they would retain that power, thus causing us no end of trouble for us," Janus stated, looking at each of them in turn. "Fortunately with the exception of Slayer Summers and her three friends, all of the others who dressed up for Halloween chose to disguise themselves as beings that already exist in their world, albeit with some minor changes."

"So if we dispose of Slayer Summers and her friends, we can consider this matter closed." Odin stated as though there was no need to think up possible alternatives.

"Wouldn't that be against HER rules on free well and divine intervention on the mortal plane?" Janus asked, sounding a bit afraid of making HER angry.

"The area in question is already a mess due to that demonness' involvement. We can justify this by saying we're correcting a threat to the balance using the most expedient method available," Odin said dismissively with very little concern. "It's not like Summers and her friends are irreplaceable. No four people are worth upsetting the balance over."

That was indeed the consensus of twelve members of the Powers That Be but, if one bothered to look, they'd be able to tell that Janus still feared the potential punishment from the Almighty. One could only wonder then why he volunteered to be the one that disposed of Slayer Summers and her friends but, like all things, it likely would become clear in time.

All that could be confirmed at present was that with a concentrated blast of emerald energy through a portal, four people vanished from existence with no way of knowing if they'd EVER be able to return.

One could only hope.

_**The Space in Between Here and There, Xander's POV**_

"Huh…wha…where…?" was all he could say as consciousness seeped back into his mind.

"Look, I haven't got all millennium and neither do you, kid, so let's get this over with quick, eh?" asked a snippy voice that he could vaguely discern was quite close to his head.

Opening his eyes with the same effort one would carrying an arm full of heavy books, he only saw the yellow eyes of a black cat looking down at him. It was this fact that let him know that he was lying on his back but his memory was fuzzy as to how he'd gotten that way. He remembered taking the kids out into the streets trick or treating and that he'd been thinking it was time for him to start heading back to school when…when…

"I believe the words 'when I suddenly started putting out enough spirit power to make everyone kiss floor' are what you're looking for," the cat sitting on his chest said. "Now let's get through with the introductions and everything because we've almost reached our destination."

"Destination?" he asked, deciding he didn't like what that implied.

"Yes. At the moment you, Summers, Rosenberg and even that Chase girl are flying through the in between space that lies outside of each dimensional reality."

"And we're here because…?" he asked, not being able to figure out why he and his friends weren't in Sunnydale.

"Basically you all became huge problems back on the Hellmouth and the Powers That Be decided the best way to deal with the problem was to kick you all out of your dimensional reality." The cat huffed with great frustration and hopped off of him.

"WHAT!?" The shock of it all caused him to forget his fatigue and sit straight up.

This turned out to be a bad idea as a combo of both vertigo and pain rolled around in his body robbing him of coherent thought for what seemed forever before returning with him once more flat on his back.

"You might want to stay still, kid. Long version short, you and your friends got caught up in a chaos mage's spell, causing you to become those people you dressed up as powers, memories and all. The only plus about it all is that you get to mostly keep your own bodies, albeit with some upgrades to keep you alive as well as in one piece."

"What's so dangerous about a samurai, a kung fu girl, some Anime character and a comic book character?" he asked, deciding to worry about the changes to his body later. "I mean, sure, Cordy as Storm would probably cause a bit of a mess but, being a comic geek, I know that Storm isn't invincible. She isn't that much more powerful than some of the mages I've read about in Giles' books."

"Doesn't matter. As far as the Powers That Be are concerned, anyone gaining unexpected boosts of power need to either be put back the way they were or removed from the chess board immediately." The cat sounded quite bitter towards the events he (based on the deep voice, he was pretty sure it was a he) was caught up in. "They're pretty obsessed with all their chess pieces going where they're supposed to, WHEN they're supposed to go there. Not big fans of surprises, any of them. Also it was actually you and your little redheaded friend that clinched their choice for getting rid of the four of you."

"Huh?"

"And you're the one he saddled me with, sayin' you'd take things best." The cat sounded quite annoyed, "You didn't become some run of the mill samurai and your friend Rosenberg turned into something with a lot more power than some clichéd and derivative Anime character. Between the two of you, the Hellmouth almost popped its top unleashing hell on earth."

"WHAT!? That doesn't make any sense!" he exclaimed but remembered not to try and sit up this time. "What the hell did me and Willow become?"

"You became a shinigami and she became some sort of evil spirit," replied the cat before laying down. "Both of you had so much power you were causing the Hellmouth to go crazy."

The term shinigami caused something to shift within him, both body and mind telling him that something from whoever the hell he turned into before getting to this in between place had definitely stuck. What that something was and just how strongly it was stuck within him, he didn't know but it was definitely something he'd have to do some thinking on. After the bits and pieces he'd picked up from his Hyena possession, he'd learned how important the little things were and how you needed to take care of them quickly or they'd take care of you.

"Alright, so we got changed into things that almost made the Hellmouth pop its cork but why did they drop kick us out of the dimension?" he asked, realizing an important fact. "If these Powers That Be are as uber powerful as their byline suggests, then why didn't they just put us back to normal?"

"Because they're a bunch of out of touch, cruel bastards that see everyone in the mortal world as a bunch of easily replaced game pieces that should just shut up and do what we're told." The cat's tail lashed angrily with a bit of its fur fluffing up, "You and your friends have been misbehaving so they decided it'd be easier just to kick you out and start their plans from scratch."

What followed was a string of profanity so vulgar and descriptive that even the snippy cat looked at him in shock and it was one of the few things that he could thank Tony Harris for. Still, it was justified because what sort of higher beings so casually threw people out of their home dimension instead of fixing them. Assuming that the black furball beside him wasn't exaggerating, these so-called 'higher beings' could care less about the people they should be protecting and care more about winning their war against the darkness. That was hardly what his imagination pictured when he thought of the forces of heaven directing the war against evil from on high. Truthfully, he'd expected people a little more like the characters from 'Touched by an Angel' rather than a group of arrogant bitches and assholes who only cared about beating the competition.

Another piece of his childhood innocence shattered.

_Ah well, what's one more?_ he thought with mock humor and much bitterness. Then something occurred to him. "If they were too lazy to fix us, why are they sending us to another dimension?" he asked, figuring it'd be much easier for them to simply spontaneously wish them out of existence.

"THEY aren't. This is something Janus decided to do on his own, under the proverbial table," the cat replied, shaking off the shock of his dirty vocabulary. "Seems he secretly likes how you screw up their plans and decided it'd be a shame to simply wink you out of existence. He decided to make it look like you'd be unmade but, in fact, ship the four of you off to a reality outside their jurisdiction."

"And… what? You're our cabbie to our new cosmic address?"

"If only it were that simple!" the cat hissed as it got up and began to pace in and out of his field of vision. "Seems the Powers found out it was me who gave Rayne your costumes and this is my punishment. I have to go WITH you to this new dimension and act as your GUIDE there. Worst of all, I can't leave for at least five centuries and that's assuming I don't break one of their rules to add more time to my sentence."

"Um… sorry?" he responded with uncertainty, since he wasn't quite sure how to respond.

The cat paused in its pacing to look at him for a moment before saying "It's not your fault. It's those bastards the Powers that have earned my hatred!"

"Yeah, well, howsabout we make a deal?" he asked rhetorically as he looked at her in the eye. "If we ever have a chance to pay them back, we'll make sure that the Almighty needs to find twelve new people to fill a couple of vacant positions. Sound good?"

"You and me kill the Powers? I think you're overestimating yourself, human," the cat said half-dismissively. "The Powers have been around a very long time and no one has even come close to ending them. What makes you think we'd stand a chance?"

"Arrogance will make them careless and if their plans can be screwed up by plain old little me, then they can't be all that bright," he said with his usual lopsided smile. "With a little help from my friends, I think it's safe to say payback is going to be happen and it's going to be sweet."

"Whatever. We're about halfway there and your body still needs time to get used to the changes it's been put through, so rest up." The cat hopped back onto his chest and curled up, intent on following her own advice.

Deciding there wasn't much else to do in the white void that seemed to be everywhere, he looked he closed his eyes again to rest but not fall asleep.

It'd be just his sort of luck to be dropped into this new dimension with his friends a couple of feet off the ground only to be dropped on the hard painful ground.

_Hopefully Buffy and the others will be dropped in a nearby lake or hill of hay or something._ He thought out of concern for his girls. _Because I swear that if they get hurt because of those fucking Powers, their deaths are going to go from a bullet to the head to slow melting by acid!_

Little did Xander know that his concerns about the wellbeing of his friends had been taken into account by the Roman god Janus but the way the deity had chosen to handle things took things in a direction no one could've seen coming save the two faced entity.

One might think that the chaos god would have dropped them all down in the same location, as well as within seconds of each other. This was not the case. While it had been his first inclination, he'd known that if the other Powers had caught wind of what he'd done, there was a chance that the twelve fools might have followed the four. It was outside of their jurisdiction and therefore they had no authority in the world he was sending the Scoobies, but since when had the egos of those twelve cared about such things? Therefore in order to ensure that all four of them were not caught at once, he scattered their arrival points throughout the land that he'd chosen to be their new home. He'd even tapped a bit further into his powers over time to vary the dates of when they'd arrive over the course of a couple of years to make it just that much harder to find all four of them.

He knew that they'd be a bit angry with him for this but he was confident that they would find each other again in time and, when that happened, they would have acquired enough allies to repel anything his fellow Powers sent to finish them off.

The precautions he'd taken to protect them were the best he could do for them without letting the others notice. It would be enough.

Of that he was sure.

_**The Town of Shirotsume, X781**_

It was a day like any other in the small town. Shopkeepers were either in their stores or out front selling their various wares. Mothers perusing what was being offered in the market place while their children tried to use all their tricks to get sweets that would almost certainly spoil their dinners.

In other words it was a fairly typical day with not a single person expecting it to be any different than the countless ones they'd experienced before. However change is the way of the universe, no matter what reality you're in, and thus a new change was introduced in a way that no one was able to ignore. One second everything was normal the next the air around them suddenly felt like it weighed thirty to forty pounds heavier and those not prepared for the change found themselves pushed to one knee. Most of the people in the town knew not what was happening because they had encountered nothing like it previously but a few with an aptitude for sorcery were able to make an educated guess. To them it felt like the power one felt in the air when two or more S class mages brought their magic to full strength causing the area around them to react.

Those able to keep a cool head and move fairly well, despite the power in the air, looked about for some sort of clue to what was going on but a high degree of scrutiny wasn't required. One hour away by foot, in a forest that the town often tapped into for resources, a blazing fire could be seen reaching into the sky clearing the trees by twenty feet easily. For those with skill in the area of magic, they were easily able to confirm that the flames were indeed the source of the change in the air. At the request of the town mayor, a group of mages and warriors were asked to enter the forest to determine the source of the fire and, if possible, get rid of it. Sadly the closest any of them were able to come to the forest was about a hundred yards and at that point it was all they could do to stay on one knee. Defeated just by the mere power given off by the arcane fire, they retreated back to the town and informed the mayor of what they'd learned.

Troubled by the fact that none of his local resources were able to resolve the issue on their own, he ordered his subordinates to send out a request to every legal guild in Fiore. If mages from one of the guilds could get rid of the fire in the forest and return the town to normal, a reward of two hundred thousand jewel would be given to them and their guild.

It was a safe bet to say everyone in the town would appreciate a swift response.

_**Magnolia, Fiore**_

_**Fairy Tail Guild, Two Days Later, Late Morning**_

_**Erza Scarlet's POV**_

_I wonder if there is a suitable job for me today?_ She thought as she professionally reviewed each of the postings on the request board.

It had been a week since she'd returned from her job to rout a roving band of dark mages and, while her time had been well spent since then, she was ready to work once more. She was, after all, one of the few S-Class mages for the guild and as such she had an obligation to keep busy. It would be terrible if people began to think of her as lazy or as someone who did not take her position as a Fairy Tail mage properly. As her eyes passed over each request, she evaluated them based on their likely difficulty rating, the reward and how long it would take for her to complete it. There seemed to be several that had to do with criminals but she dismissed them since the information indicated that fighting them would be like using Fairy Law to deal with a termite problem. A few postings asked for assistance in overcoming a dark curse but that really wasn't her area of expertise, as it was not something that could be solved with the swing of a sword.

_Interesting,_ she thought as she found a request by the mayor of Shirotsume Town. _An unknown magical phenomena outside of the town. Approach impossible by non-mages and local mages. Phenomena takes the form of a large mass of fire._

Having received instruction on arcane matters from Master Makerov and possessing no little bit of experience in the field, it truly sounded to her like a powerful source of magic existed in the forest. Much like one could not get too close to a fire without the heat becoming painful, there were cases where a person could not get too close to a source of powerful mystical energy without protection. Examining the request further, she tried to see if there were any details but it looked as though the town mayor didn't know anything more. While she would've preferred to know whether it was a person, an object or a spell of some kind, she could find that out when she got there.

_Alright! Looks like I've found my next job._ She thought as she took the request off of the bulletin board.

As she turned around to let Master Makerov know that she'd be taking the request, she saw Natsu eating as vigorously as ever and a thought came to her. Her old friend had been without a job for even longer than her and it was not good for any mage to let their skills rust due to lack of use. Also, if the nature of the problem was indeed fire related, then it only made sense to have a Dragon Slayer whose element was fire along for the job.

Walking over to the table he was at, she set down the request before him, "Natsu? I have a request here and I was wondering if you'd like to come along. Interested?"

Allowing him a moment to read over she could tell the moment he'd made his decision by the fired up look in his eyes.

"Oh yeah! I'm all fired up!" Natsu exclaimed, vocalizing his interest in the request. "Count me in!"

"Master?" she yelled over to the elderly mage sitting at the bar. "Natsu and I are taking the Shirotsume job."

"I'll make sure to send the town mayor word," Makerov said as he took the huge book out from beneath the bar.

"It's decided then!" she declared before turning to leave. "Meet me at the carriage service station in one hour, Natsu, and we'll depart."

"See you then!" Natsu said, running out the door with Happy flying close behind.

She herself left the guild shortly after to journey to her rooms at Fairy Hills so as to decide on which armor she'd take with her in her personal pocket dimension. Bringing up her mental list of armors she possessed, she could tell right from the beginning that she'd need her Flame Empress armor if she was to have protection enough against the fire. Flight would also be required but since the flame could be felt from so far away by the townspeople, she would need to meet force with force so her Black Wing Armor would be best. Lastly, as a precaution against the possibility of the magic increasing in strength, she would bring her Adamantine Armor so that she could defend both herself as well as others.

It didn't take her long to reach the Fairy Hills dormitory and even less time to reach her room, but as she reached out to open the door, her eyes fell upon a sight that made her pause. Two doors down on the opposite side of the hallway was the room that belonged to Mirajane's little sister, Lisanna, but at the moment it was empty since the three siblings had left on a job. If she recalled correctly they'd gone to deal with an outbreak of magical creatures that were hostile towards humans and were running amok. Given the type of magic they specialized in, rounding up those animals and dealing with the source was the perfect job for them. Natsu had wanted to go with them but it had been decided that sending the Dragon Slayer would be overkill and, for the time being, they couldn't risk going too far overboard. The Magic Council had sent them a warning by messenger to curb their destructive tendencies and, while Master Makerov usually dismissed these warnings, she thought it might be best to show some restraint for the time being.

Shelving those thoughts for the time being, she directed her attention to placing the armor she'd selected into her pocket dimension while removing others that she would not need.

Within fifteen minutes all she needed was stored where she needed it to be and began to sort through the little things she'd need to bring with her.

_It's a good thing that I had wheel on my cart fixed, s_he thought as she began to sort through some of the tools and items she might need on the trip. _It'd be something of a problem trying to take these few odds and ends with me otherwise._

It never crossed her mind that what she considered to be a few odds and ends other people saw as enough luggage to last someone a few months on the road.

_**The Town of Shirotsume, Evening, Natsu's POV**_

"Ooooo! I'm never getting on a carriage again!" he moaned as he struggled to get his body back to its normal self.

He knew he said that every single time he got into one or some other kind of transportation but the others didn't realize how terrible it was for him. The dizziness and nausea were almost overwhelming, with long trips being especially difficult for him as well as quite messy for the owner of the boat/train/carriage that he'd been riding on. As he began to improve physically, he got to his feet and saw that Erza was already looking about but he really didn't see the point since even he could see the reason for them being in the town.

"WHOA! Cool!" he exclaimed, seeing the large mass of fire that lit up the entire area even though it was pretty far from the town.

"Indeed, however can you feel the power in the air?" Erza asked, sounding more concerned than usual.

Power in the air? He wasn't quite sure what she meant by that but nevertheless he reached out with the senses he'd sharpened over the years and was quickly able to tell that something different was in this town. It felt different from Magnolia, as well as quite a few other places that he'd visited in his search for Igneel, but he couldn't quite describe it.

"I wonder what it tastes like?" he wondered offhand since it'd been his experience that every type of fire had a different flavor.

"You may find out later once we've spoken with the town mayor. I want to see if he's learned anything new about the fire since sending out the guild request," Erza said as she pulled her cart of belongings down the street. "Depending on what the fire really is and how we can deal with it, we might need to book a room at the local in for a few days."

"Nah! It'll be easy," he said, walking in the direction of the fire. "I'll just eat it all. Might take a couple of hours but I don't mind."

"We don't know what type of flame that is. It might leave you sick like that time you tried to eat Laxus' lightning," Erza pointed out, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder. "We meet with the mayor first, then we investigate the fire in the forest."

"Tch! Fine." He locked his fingers behind his head and followed the redhead as she went down the street.

Walking down the street, one of the things he noticed was the fact that there weren't very many people out walking and, while he'd never been to the town before, he did know that it was still early for people to be going to bed. Aside from him and Erza, the only people walking up and down the street were what he figured were the city guards and a few mages. He couldn't see any symbols on them so he figured they didn't belong to any official guild but rather lived in the general area. When you added this to the odd feeling and the odd smell in the air, he could tell that something big was going on.

It didn't take them long to reach the mayor's mansion and, after being let in by the butler, were escorted to some place with a lot of books in them. He didn't think on them any further than that because, unlike some people, he preferred to experience things firsthand rather than read about them in some book.

"Ah! Welcome to the town of Shirotsume, Fairy Tail mages," a well-dressed man that looked like he was trying to hide the fact that he was going bald said with a large smile. "I am so happy that you chose to respond to my request so quickly. We've had such a trying time coping with the effects the fire in the forest is having on our little town!"

"Have you learned anything more about it since you sent out the request?" Erza asked professionally as she looked at their current employer.

"Not much, I am afraid. Some of our local mages attempted to place protective runes on themselves in an effort to get closer but they were still unable to see the source with their own eyes," the mayor replied with a discouraged look on his face. "The only bit of progress we've been able to make was when one of our mages attempted to use magic to seek the source of the fire. This is what his magic showed us."

Waving his hand over a sphere on his desk, an image was projected from it about two feet in the air and after the image cleared up a form could clearly be seen in the center of the blazing inferno.

It was the form of a man.

It was impossible for them to see any details of the man because of the fire but at least they knew now what they had to beat up.

"Natsu and I will investigate immediately, Mr. Mayor," Erza said, sounding confident in their ability to fix the problem. "We should be able to resolve the issue soon."

"Thank you! Knowing that the famous Titania of Fairy Tail is investigating the situation will do much to put the concerns of the people at rest," the mayor said, sounding quite grateful for the promise of a quick resolution.

"Then we shall take out leave," Erza said with a formal bow before she turned to leave.

For a moment he considered asking the mayor if he had anything good to eat but then he remembered the last time he'd asked a question like that while on a mission with Erza. The shudder of fear at the memory was all too real and so he kept his mouth shut.

Once they were outside of the mansion and walking down the street, a thought occurred to him that made him much more interested in finding out who was in the middle of that inferno.

For a mage to be able to produce that much fire they were either really powerful or they might be a dragon slayer like him.

Either way, he had more than enough incentive to put off dinner until later.

_**The Middle of the Forest Outside of Shirotsume, Later, Xander's POV**_

"I'm gonna die of hunger before I get all this power locked up!" he growled as he did his best to focus on drawing all the power he was putting out back into his body.

"Technically you'd die of thirst first in three days and we're at the two day mark now," stated the cat that was curled up a few feet away. "Now quit griping and concentrate on pulling the spiritual energy you're blowing everywhere back in!"

"You're all heart, N'atrina!" he griped before doing what she'd told him to do.

Gripping the wooden staff/cane in his hand, he doubled his efforts to bring the inferno, the visible manifestation of his spiritual energy, under control and draw it back within his body. It wasn't easy and it was enough to make him toss any past desires to be a powerhouse into the trash. Most people looked at the big time heroes and fictional characters and thought about how 'cool' it would be to have their powers and abilities. Only a very selective people thought to consider how much training and time those fictional characters had to go through to get their abilities under control. They didn't just wake up one day with their powers and automatically know how to kick ass like professional. They grew into their powers, learning how to master it at one level before working to become stronger and better than they were before.

It was for this reason that getting the power of one Captain-Commander Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni could quite easily be called 'a bad thing'.

Yep, that name was one of the few things that had come up in his mind after he'd gotten over the drop from fifteen feet up in the air. It was right after he'd hit the ground that the reiryoku, or spiritual power, exploded outwards clearing an area around him equal to a hundred yards in all directions. He'd immediately tried to figure out what the hell was going on and how to stop it and it was then that the information just seemed to pop up in his mind. Whose powers he'd been given, a basic idea of how they worked and how harmful the energy he was putting out could be to living beings too weak to endure it. That was why he'd stayed put rather than go looking for a source of food or water because even with his lack of experience he was able to somehow instinctively sense the presence of a great many people close by indicating a city. He couldn't risk those people just to suit his own needs, so he'd instead sat down and, utilizing what knowledge from his Yamamoto memories he could access, and had been doing his best to reign in the power he now had.

For the past two days though he'd not had the success that he'd hoped he'd have and the fragments of his 'father's' memories weren't being much help in explaining why.

The basic premise he'd figured out was that one's spiritual energy was like a bonfire and the reiatsu or energy field produced by the person's spiritual energy was like the heat and light being given off by the bonfire. Therefore it should have been a simple matter of him using his willpower to pull both the light as well as the heat back into his body and then slamming the lid on it. Only problem with that was the fact that, while he did have a lot of energy, that didn't translate over into never needing food, water or sleep. Those were still important things and, with his flames destroying or cooking anything that came near him, fatigue was often his body's response to his lack of the first two. Then when he fell asleep due to lack of strength, whatever progress he'd made came undone because he needed to be conscious to draw the power back into himself.

In short, unless he figured out why his spiritual power wasn't responding to him as quickly as it should, he'd never be able to be around a living thing ever again. And he'd likely die of thirst since virtually all liquids turned into mist by the time they got anywhere close to his mouth.

It was as he felt the energy flowing back into him level off that he sensed something that he hoped would change before it got this far. For the last hour he'd been able to sense three spiritual signatures approaching his location and, peripherally, he'd been praying that they would turn back like all the others had the last two days. However they had not changed their course and now began to enter the forest despite the fact that everyone else had turned back a good hundred yards from the edge of the trees. Worried about their souls, he used all his will and all his strength to draw in his power as he feared that if they got too close to him, their lives could very well be in danger.

It was then that something happened he hadn't once expected.

One of the people that had entered the forest seemed to be… absorbing… his spiritual energy like most people breathed in air. It was unlike anything he himself had ever experienced and the only thing that the fragmented memories he'd inherited from Yamamoto had that came close was the ability that some Hollows had to suck in people's souls. The echoes within him that belonged to the old man wanted to seek out this person and, if they were indeed like a Hollow, to slay them immediately. He squashed this idea because, no matter what the situation, he was in no shape to be fighting anything or anyone given his lack of control. Getting to his feet, he tried to walk away from both the approaching people and the town but found that his strength was so weak that his steps were unsteady. Apparently his lack of food and water had robbed him of much of his physical strength but it made him wonder why his spiritual power didn't translate to physical power. It certainly would buy him more time to get a handle on the power he now possessed but, as he tried to take another step, this time he almost fell, forcing him to use his cane to stop his descent.

_Looks like running isn't an option. Hell, walking might as well be a dream,_ he thought as he prepared to meet his guests. _I just hope they're strong enough to endure the power I'm putting out._

Turning to face the direction in which the trio would come, he waited for them wondering if they'd have the strength to make it all the way to him. From the memories that occasionally rose from the background noise that existed within his mind since arriving in this new world, he knew that it would take someone at least half as strong as he was to endure the reiatsu he was putting out. Closing his eyes, he monitored the progress of the three people and noticed that they were indeed strong spiritually. The one that seemed to be eating his spiritual flames actually seemed to be getting stronger the more he consumed, with nothing to indicate whether or not they were reaching their limit. The other… the other seemed to be protected somewhat from his flames. He wouldn't say that the second individual was repelling the flames, neither was the fire having as strong an effect on them as they should have on a normal person. Did both the approaching people have some sort of powers that allowed them to endure the energy he was putting out? The third signature didn't seem to have any power of its own but was instead protected from the flames by the one that could devour them.

It was twenty minutes later before they emerged from the foliage of the forest out into the clearing that his power had made upon his arrival.

The first was a girl about his age with red hair and toned body. How did he know that the body was toned? Because she was currently clad in armor that did very little, in his opinion, to hide her curves and made him think that she was some kind of convention girl. True, the armor looked real with the breastplate, the gauntlets and the boots but the whole color scheme was something that was just a little too flashy. Sure, he remembered that Giles had told him once that some of the more… eccentric aristocrats and knights sometimes had their armor pimped out with extra engravings or ornaments but the add ons served no real purpose. Now that they were closer, though, he could tell that it was the armor that was somehow providing some protection from the flames but not total. She also had a cool looking red and black sword in her right hand. Based on the way she was holding it, he had a sneaking suspicion that she knew how to use it VERY well so he made sure not to make any hostile moves.

The other was a young man that looked to be a year or two younger but with pink hair of all things. There was a scarf around the guy's neck and a black vest with orange trim along with white pants. The odd thing to him though was the sort of skirt thing he wore that had the same color scheme as the guy's vest. Thinking on it a moment, he thought he remembered seeing something similar in some of Jesse's Kung Fu films but he couldn't be sure, given how long ago it was that he watched those movies.

The last and smallest of the group turned out to be… a blue cat that walked on its legs like a person?! It also seemed to have some kind of bag hanging on its back but he was still trying to reconcile the blue cat part. Sure N'atrina was a cat that could talk and think like a person but he still moved like a cat and still exhibited certain cat-like mannerisms.

_Still, if life in Sunnydale has taught me anything, it's to roll with the weirdness._

Trying to think of something to say about them, he could only think of one thing. "Hey," he said waving at them with his usual lopsided grin.

He couldn't help but chuckle a bit at their reaction to his words since surprise would definitely be an appropriate description of their expressions.


End file.
